Tuesday, September 30, 2003

WCPO's Dennis Janson is trying his hand at blogging. DJ has in the past done commentary on WCPO's news broadcasts, but now is attempting it with his blog: Spare Change. So far there is only one post from last Friday. The post was purely commentary on the "No-Call List" which is about to take effect, but is being challenged in court.

Some criticism: first Dennis needs to loose the "centering" in his posting, that makes his post look like a poem. It might be poetry to DJ's ears, but it will not be taken that way by most readers. The more troubling problem is that this is written as broadcast copy, right down to his tag line at the end. Blogging is a literary form of journalism. Broadcast journalism conventions come across even more hokey in text form than on air. I hope Dennis revised his method and writes to a reading audience, not to one watching him. I also am disappointed that there is not more than one post. The element of blogging that makes it fun is the timeliness to it. If he is going to hand his copy to the web editor once a day, they might want to not call it a blog. He might want to provide reference links to what he is talking about, that adds depth to a blog post, and is generally part of the "standard" format for blogs. I welcome the addition of a professional outlet's blog, but at this point it needs more in it before I can even blogroll it, which is something he needs. Blogs are built on networking, and DJ's blog lacks any links to other blogs.

In light of the SacBee controversy of newspaper blogs, I wonder what kind of editing Dennis is subject to. So far it sounds like he will be edited to a degree, but until more posts arise, we will have to wait and see.

This is what happens when local people put on a local event with the cooperation from nearly all corners of the community, success. 30,000 people!!! I was one of those partake in MMF. I was impressed with both the turnout and the quality of the music I heard. I hope this event returns next year and I hope the national media takes notice. If the city would put the 100K earmarked for John Elkington instead into hiring a PR person to market MMF to the national market, we might double the turnout.

Monday, September 29, 2003

Could Judge Patrick Dinkelacker have picked a worse target than an alleged rape victim to make an example for those who refuse to testify in court after filing complaints against people? His actions have been protested now by presumably rape victims support groups. Dinkelacker could have done a service to society by not picking this person to jail, while dismissing the case against the accused. I am concerned as to why this woman who go this far and now choose not to testify against her alleged attacker. Either she is being threatened or she made up the whole incident. Either way this is just a mess, and Dinkelacker's actions do nothing to help the situation.

Greg Mann of Notes from Ground Level takes Peter Bronson to task for his column bashing the Ohio Supreme Court's Ruling on Conceal-Carry. Mr. Mann exposes Peter's ignorance of the law and even more his ignorance of the "Conservative" ideological view on interpretation of the law, which is generally how the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in upholding the existing law banning the carrying of concealed firearms. Peter seems to not like to hold true to his conservative values when they conflict with a need to appease a core constituency of the "conservative movement."

The Genie is out of the bottle for Jim Schifrin, the one man show behind the Whistleblower Newswire. Mr. Schifrin is 64 years old, older than I would have thought. That is not a slam, by any means, just a credit to him. He has more sources than the best reporters in town. Often some of what he writes is mean and harsh and offensive, but in general he is mean and harsh and offensive to just about everyone. I am not surprised the Blower has been banned from City Hall, but I am saddened by it. If Dusty Rhodes can take the ribbing, why can't Luken and Lemmie? My highlight is that in tomorrow's edition of the Blower, the regular "Real Faxes From Real Subscribers" feature, my blog here got a reference in response to an email I sent on the Plain Dealer article:

At least the Blower doesn't get all blogged down. --The Cincinnati Blog

I am happy I have not been skewered yet, but if he reads this I am sure to get my comeuppance.

After considerable deliberation on a name and design for this blog, we have finally opened our doors. Welcome! We are a blog, nay, a community, for the discussion of architecture and design and the events and ideas that surround them. (So of course we would take a while on the design.) My colleagues, Cindy, Carl and Mary, and I are all students of architecture at the University of Cincinnati with varying interests and aspirations. We hope that you will enjoy our discourses and possibly even join us in discussing the issues that shape our world today.

I bid everyone a welcome to the Cincinnati Blogging world, and I hope they enjoy what I consider fun. My readers may disagree, but hell, it is fun for me.

Friday, September 26, 2003

The University has issued a press release on the Strike and they appear to not be backing down on anything. The rumors on the Strike are rippling throughout the campus. Reports are that the bulk of the push for the strike came from the Dinning Hall staff, who are amongst the lowest paid of all full time employees on campus. Less than half of the almost 900 staffers "covered" by the union were actually union members, around 400 to 450. Allegedly 70 of those members quit the union from the point the negotiations when down hill last month, and only 300 voted on the contract, so likely many more are no longer be members. Reports are that most of the non-dining hall staffers will break picket lines on Monday, no matter if the Strike is resolved or not. The physical facilities crews had a large percentage show up for work today, likely a majority of workers in those departments.

Reports also were made that some Professors either held classes off campus, or planned to do so because some students or the professors themselves did not want to "cross the picket line." That seems stupid. I assume if those students want to honor the same picket line they will not eat anywhere on campus, and will not even enter their dorm rooms, in fact since the grounds crews are covered here, they can’t step foot on campus and should just leave all together.

This is fresh news via Talkingpointsmemo.com: MSNBC is reporting that the CIA has asked the Justice Department to investigate the White House for allegedly leaking the identity of a CIA agent, a violation of federal law. The agent in question is the wife of Joseph Wilson, former Ambassador to Iraq and envoy sent to Niger to investigate reports or speculation that Iraq was seeking uranium from the African country. Wilson “discredited” those reports, but Bush still used the claim in his state of the Union address.

This story hitting on a Friday night is not a shock, burying news is the standard MO for this administration top to bottom. The timing may not matter, assuming the press does not ignore it. No one in the Bush camp can escape the power of the subpoena. This will be a test of life after the Independent Council Statute. Will John Ashcroft conduct a fair and impartial investigation? Will Congress hold hearings? Will Congress at least keep tabs on the thoroughness of the DOJ investigation?

Well, this will accomplish nothing but make another generation of business leaders hate unions. Good Long term planning there Local 209 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees! Do you even have strike fund? Here is the kicker:

About 300 union members voted.

The union claims to represent 860 workers. In reality the 560 other workers, or close to it, are likely not actual paying union members. They will probably still be at work today. Miami is bringing in temporary workers to help feed the students. I wonder how many workers from the dining halls will actually not work and make it difficult to feed the students. That is kind. An unconfirmed report from last night indicated that the Shriver Center (the student union, aka the “Res”) was locked up. It is normally open 24 hours a day.

This is the kind of union that I really can't support. What are they fighting for? Now, I don't mean for people to spout off Union Rhetoric. The dispute was down to something like 6 points. The issue was about power. The union wants to take away power from the University. I can understand this point. Power to the people is a tempting path, but when only 35% of the people the union claims to represent actually vote on striking, and only 165 people voted to strike (19% of the total 860). How is that power to the people? That is power to a small minority of the people.

The TV coverage of "the Game" is being cancelled according to this post on www.miamihawktalk.com from a credible source. Reasons for the cancellation are related to the strike, which looks to make its big show at the football game. Having no TV coverage does take away a possible PR weapon the Union could use if they wanted to disrupt the actual game. Miami may be able to pick up another game later in the season, but official word will come later on today.

UPDATE: Here is the official press release from Miami on TV coverage being cancelled. No details were given as to why, specifically the game was cancelled in this release.

More details on the strike from the Miami Student: Here and Here. Both stories are very fair and show mutliple sides of the issue.

Jack Shafer of Slate's newest piece, "The Rat of Baghdad" came out on Wednesday and believe it or not I actually was able to provide some background information for his story. I tracked the reporters who were in Baghdad during the Iraq War, so he was able to get an idea of the players in question that affected New York Times reporter John Burns, the subject of Jack's story. I am not mentioned in the piece; my posts back during the war were just a research too for Jack, but hell, I will take credit for anything I remotely may have had a hand in. If my work can provide any positive service or value to anyone, then I actually feel like what I do is worthwhile, beyond keeping me sane of course.

Thursday, September 25, 2003

FOX News has a story that David Kay's report on WMD in Iraq has so far produced little or nothing. What I find most interesting is that there is no author listed for this story other than "Fox News" and that the following was included in the report:

The United States and Britain made their case for war arguing that Saddam's weapons program was an imminent threat to their national security.

Couple this with the fairly tough questions asked of Condi Rice by Bill O'Reilly, one has to ask, has FOX News turned on Bush? I know, I know, they have always been "fair and balanced." (Cough, Couch) The only other possibility I can fathom is that Al Franken infiltrated the GOP News headquarters and spiked someone's coffee.

Seriously for a second, I think FOX News can no longer consider that they, in their own minds of course, are even remotely objective or "Fair and Balanced" if they don't report the fact that Bush's main reason for going to war was that Iraq was a threat to the USA through the existence of WMD and a future threat with on going WMD programs. If there are leaks from the administration that David Kay has found neither WMD nor any serious ongoing WMD programs, then Bush may be losing some of his conservative support. No one likes to be lied to. Liberals did not like being lied to be Bill Clinton, but in the end his lies did not harm anyone outside his family so it was easier to overlook them. Bush misleading people on this did cause harm to others, and that is unforgivable, even for one of his fellow Republicans. They will still support the ends of the Iraq war and defend Bush on that, but they will not be able to refute the lack of WMD, and thus loose one edge in the debate on Bush’s foreign policy.

This is really wishful thinking on may part for FOX News. I hope this is their tact, even if just for one day it is still a nice respite from the propaganda. The rest of the conservative media will likely still rattle on by downplaying the importance of WMD to Bush's threat claims or by just ignoring it all together. And so it goes.

UPDATE: What was I thinking? I am a sucker. FOX suckered me, well a little. I missed a key word in the excerpt I used above, "weapons programs." I missed the "programs" part and just read weapons, and thought it meant WMD. I should instead be screaming about the clear bias in this story, but it is a shock they even ran it. I guess Bill O'Reilly should get the praise still, even thought he did not really follow up with Rice when she failed to answer the WMD questions.

UPDATE#2: Nothing yet from the 800-pound gorilla nor the Corner on this story. If is from a source they can't claim is "biased," now can they?

Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune, the only Democrat on the commission, has been the GOP's political enemy here for many years. People on the right really don't like his politics and his political tactics. Todd has been going through some very difficult health problems that have left him in a wheel chair. He still has long road ahead before he will be able to walk again, but for now he goes forward and now is able to get around town on his own. I hope people can look at Todd, no matter his politics, and admire the man for this kind of effort. He gets a lot of flack from people, and often it is not underserved, but I tip my hat to him for his courage, ability to face life head on, and his strength to keep on working towards walking to work real soon.

It is odd. This has been a law for 144 years, in one form or another, and yet "conservatives" want to change it. I am please that the State Supremes did not go off the deep end and rule that guns owners have more rights than those seeking freedoms of speech, the press, or of religion.

This supports my belief. You have the right to own guns and keep them on your property nearly in way you want to. If you take them off your property, then you can be regulated by the State. That is fair. It is also constitutional for the State legislature to change the laws on Conceal-Carry, which the GOP controlled government wants to, but they are playing to much politics with it to agree on a reasonable type of law. I hope the Taft camp and the extremist camps stay at odds. That will keep more idiots from carrying a gun under their coats this winter. The fewer, the better.

For the gun nuts out there, guess what: no matter how much you try and invoke the tainted studies by Mr. Lott or anyone else, you will not gain much ground with me, so don't bother. I am for the current Ohio gun laws. Keep your guns on your own property if you don't want the State to get involved, otherwise quite your whining or get your GOP leaders to compromise with each other. We liberals are not to blame for the State government here in Ohio. The conservatives have control, they don't care about what we think anyway, so why blame us?

The Enquirer's editorial is odd too. They seem to be saying "Damn you Supreme court, why couldn't you have been an activist court? We hate activist courts, mind you, but when they benefit our side, we'll just looking the other way, and ignore the hypocrisy." I'm reading between the lines, so don't nit-pick please. I wonder how many gun nuts will blame the liberals on the court for this adherence to precedent.

The apocalypse meter must be rising because I agree with Peter Bronson's column from yesterday. Peter ripped into the past of John Elkington who the Mayor and Councilman John Cranley are trying to get as a consultant/developer for some type of vaguely defined Main Street project.

The only problem I have with this column is that it should have been written by Maggie Downs. She has written a lot about Main Street, she knows the people involved, and she is perfectly capable of getting the same quote from Louisiana and Georgia as Peter did. Why did she not do the column? The only reason is that Peter wanted to, and the Paleolithic columnists always get their way or that the Paper wanted to see this issue fail, and Peter can help reach the right people (those with the money) to help pull the carpet out from under any development of OTR, or at least any under the current Mayor. Why would Bronson really care what happens on Main Street? Would he ever even go there? Maybe if they started a Solid Rock Church instead of a Hard Rock Café he might.

Wednesday, September 24, 2003

The latest UC poll suggests that Ohio is not a lock for Bush in 2004. Ohio is a bell weather state for politics. So goes Ohio, and more often than not, so goes the election. A 55% approval rate, down from 76% is a big hit. Iraq policy is only part of the cause. The Economy is surely the main reason for the drop. This poll is fickle, as are Ohio voters, so come next summer, this poll should be a good indicator of what is to come.

The Miami University student body president has invited, with the approval of the Sports Department, all Xavier University students to attend this weekends Miami-UC annual battle for the bell football game. No doubt this will piss off the Bearkitten faithful, but intercolligate relations has never known a better gesture. This is a great PR story, and surprise, surprise it is a positive story about Miami in the Enquirer. Well, it was written by Mark Schmetzer who is the semi-official Miami University beat writer for the Enquirer.

Vigilancia Politica 20030924A fun week with even more on McMain Street. Elkington does not come off to wonderful in the various references in the column. No picture this week, I did not take my camera with me to Oktoberfest as promised, and I wish did. I missed quite a few bizarre pictures. The people with the Cole and Malone stickers on might have been the most interesting. I guess drunk people will wear any kind of stick, if you just ask.

Who is leaking all of the information on the alleged additional plans of the 9/11 terrorists and why is it being leaked? Is it being leaked to discredit Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in the eyes of the remaining terrorists? It is to taint a jury pool? I assumed he would be headed for either a foreign court or for a military trial. He would presumably be open to trial as a co-conspirator of 9/11 under U. S. criminal law, as well as New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania state laws. Doesn't this leak give him a slam-bang fair trial appeal before anything happens?

This smells fishy to me. If he is being held by the CIA then either the CIA lacks the ability to keep its mouth in the face of gain some positive PR, or it was part of some other plot to either push outstanding terrorists to act with haste or to back off from something impending. What ever the reason it leaked, I don't like it.

I am going out on a limb now with some nit-picky analysis of the announcement that the Bush Administration is introducing 6 new regulations to allow religious organizations to receive federal funding for programs that provide community “services.” Claims to the kind of services are varied and unverified. What makes me cringe are the comments made by Jim Towey, the head of the White House faith-based office (and no this is not the group looking for WMD’s in Iraq):

"These six new regulations and the four finalized ones represent a continued march by the president in the faith-based initiative's effort to spread compassion in our country and make sure that the most effective programs are funded," said Jim Towey, the head of the White House faith-based office.

The bold was added. Now, “to spread compassion” sounds very close to “spreading the word,” one of the evangelical crowd's many rhetorical bumper sticker phrases. Additionally, with Mel Gibson’s movie out there called “The Passion”, then “compassion” could have a more obvious context. Now I am a reading into this quite a bit, but the language could have been constructed with more care, like avoiding “crusade” when talking about going after a group of Muslim extremists.

Not to be outdone with himself, Jim Towey continued:

"He wants to see results. This is not about funding religion, but about funding results and identifying the most effective providers and knocking down the wall that separates the poor from these programs."

It is not about “religion,” he says, but that depends on how one defines religion. I think my definition and his might differ greatly. His reference to “knocking down the wall that separates” is such very unfortunate use of language. That phrase was at best a Freudian slip, or at worse code words to Christian Conservatives looking for payoffs for their obedience to King George. What this policy is doing is knocking down the wall of separation between church and state. Direct or indirect funding of religion is a violation of the 1st Amendment. It is compounded in violation when the details of who is being funded and who is not being funded. I would how to see at least a few Pagan drug clinics funded, but I will not hold my breath.

Well, the only good thing I can say about this pro-gun "protest" is that they at least are strapping on their leg irons. None of the conceal and carry pussy stuff for these guys. They don't just want you to be fearful they might have a gun, they wish to remove all doubt, and let the fear manifest it self in fact. Now this goes contrary to the protest leader's comments:

"I'd like for that 80-year-old woman walking down the street to be able to have a gun in her purse,'' Ferrier said. "It doesn't work the same if she's got it out where someone can see it.''

It has more of an effect. Which works better: the fear that someone might have a nuclear bomb in their garage, or having the nuclear bomb on their front lawn? Guess what, the bomb on the front lawn "works better," so to speak. Neither works better in the long run. Carrying around guns is not going to change society for the better. It will just make a few people feel more important and give the weak another crutch to live by. Crime will not go down because Grandma has a gun. Grandma will just end up shooting the next man who comes to her door mistakenly thinking he is a burglar. Fear is a two way street. It can motivate you and it can motivate others.

“It’s conservative,” said senior Katie Hladky, a co-presidents of Spectrum, a student-run organization for gay, lesbian, transgender, and straight students. “When something like 60 percent of students are born-again Christians, they in general aren’t supportive of gay people or gay rights. This is not a good place to be gay.”

Now, Miami's student body tends to be more "conservative" than most public universities, that is a fact. Miami is home to a huge Frat/Sorority system that has never been strongly open to gays and lesbians, but 60% are "born-again Christians?" Unless things have changed in this society somehow in the nearly 10 years since I was at Miami, then I think Katie Hladky, co-president of Spectrum, lied. Compounding the matter both the writer and the editors from the Student failed to add a rebuttal or at least a clarification as to the validity of her claim. It is not like the statistic she quoted is somehow debatable. If she said maybe 25% or even 33%, then that could go unchallenged, but to slander the University as I believe she did with hat claim is really uncalled for, and it is a disgrace when the student newspaper facilitates it.

Additionally, the article refers to the Princeton Survey of what I believe was 351 of the top universities, based on a Student survey of 106,000 students. Now that comes out to 301.99 students per survey on average. How many students at Miami were actually in the survey? How many gay/lesbian students were in the survey? That may be difficult to determine, but how many members of Spectrum were in the survey? Was Katie Hladky in the survey? With comments that she makes about the university, it would not be surprising that she would rank Miami the 5th worst with her slanted views. If you want to know how many people are people are Ohio State Buckeye fans in the State do you spend all of your time in Columbus asking questions? Or maybe do you branch out. Did this survey do that? Where those questions asked? Why also was this survey the lead when it is a month old? If you want to run a GBLT story, just run it straight up, don't hide it behind the credibility of Princeton.

On a side note, from your editorial on tolerance the following sentence appeared: "Spectrum, Miami’s alliance of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and queer students annually sponsors Awareness Week." What is a "queer" as opposed to a gay, lesbian, or bisexual? Is this a typo, something "new," or just the appeasement of splinter group with a hang up on language?

As a Miami Alumnus who is a full bore social liberal, I find disheartening to see that ideas are toss out there without any forethought or at least an explanation as to their meaning or purpose. Gay/lesbian rights are very important, and something I fully support. What I don't support are activists trying to disparage people and places with falsehood in hopes of trying gain hollow support for their ever-changing cause.

Sincerely,
Brian Griffin
Class of '94
Cincinnati, Ohio

I don't like it when activists are treated with kid gloves, especially when they are allowed to make stuff up without even a short editors note.

Beer!!! Brats!!! Beer!!! What three words are more beautiful in the whole wide world of city festivals? This year should be the typical. I plan on heading down this afternoon. Drink a few, eat a ton of food, and take a few snap shots of the event. I might post one or two if they turn out well. What I will be paying attention to is the little yet loud members of the CJC who plan on protesting the event. Last year there was a slight altercation between the protestors and some patrons of the event. This year I expect nothing less. I would expect to see more security on Fountain Square. The altercation will not boil up until later on when people have had a few more beers. The protests will continue tomorrow, assuming all of the protestors don't wind up in jail. Tomorrow might be the more apt time for trouble. At 4 PM the "Chicken Dance" will take place and everyone and their Fräulein will be on the square, plus the football game with the always rowdy Steeler fans will just be ending, so a recipe for high jinks is ever-present.

For info on the event go Here. Plus the Enquirer coverage Here. Protest information is here.

Friday, September 19, 2003

A Findlay, Ohio state representative is organizing an effort to pass a bill to get the State of Ohio to establish the Ten Commandments (part of his religion) as the foundation "on which we base our ethical, moral and legal dilemmas."

I would hope this would only get the extreme Republican support, like my Rep. Tom Brinkman, but 15 other reps have signed on. This is political grandstanding taken to the maximum extreme. People are using their religion as a campaign issue. This is not This is a wedge issue. If you are not "Christian" enough, then you are not worthy of holding office, at least in the eyes of the fanatically pious Christian.

This effort should be opposed, but will anyone in state government have the courage to face down theocratic fascists? Religiosity is yet another test that is being measured as the basis of your character. In the past it was your level of anti-communistic fervor. Today it is both "patriotism" and religion. If you are not absolutely in support of both concepts, as has been defined by the GOP, then you are one of "Them," a treasonous atheist European. I proudly am very patriotic and proud of my country. I think the President and his government currently in power is horrid. I am an atheistic agnostic. I consider myself as honorable, ethical, “moral”, and any clergyman in the world. I guess I am one of “Them,” and increasingly I am glad that I am.

I know I am behind the trend here, but have to point out that Glenn Reynolds (aka the 800-pound gorilla) has gone from semi-neutral moderate, to all out foaming at the mouth Kool-Aide guzzling end justify the means mega-hawk.

Glenn's Tirade is filled with anecdotal reports that he finds supportive of a viewpoint that is totally contrary to the reporting coming out of Iraq. Even Fox News does not paint as rosy a picture as Glenn seems to paint. Iraq is not going well. It does not take a genius to figure that out. It does take a strong person to admit when you are wrong about a policy. Glenn and the Blog-hawks cannot find it in them to admit that although the heavy fighting was done brilliantly, the aftermath was not planned and is not getting better. Now sure, not ever town in Iraq is horrible, but the parts that are bad are not getting better and any efforts to change are as rapid as a new bottle of Ketchup. I am tempted to edit my blogroll.

Should we leave Iraq? Hell no. We should stop lying about the need for help, mainly more troops, and start working quickly with the UN. Hat needs to go in hand. Let the French ego grow. Bush does not care about our international image, so why does he care about looking bad at the UN. Oh, wait, he does care about how his supporters see him, and he can’t look like a weasel to them. The hawks will be pissed if we don’t stick to the plan that is not working. Lovely.

I have to repeat Josh Marshall’s question: Where is the Kay report? Where are the WMD’s that we “knew” where there.

Yesterday council candidate Nick Spencer challenged the efforts of Charlie Luken and John Cranley to hire John Elkington as a consultant for Main Street development. At the OTR Chamber of Commerce luncheon Nick raised questions as to why the city is not considering the problems Mr. Elkington has had in some of his development project outside of Beale Street in Memphis. Nick's comments appeared to have not only put Mr. Elkington back on his heels, they also pissed him off enough to not show up for a meeting planned with Nick later on yesterday afternoon.

Support for Elkington is falling more and I would not be surprised if no vote occurs to even pay him. If the money for Elkington is denied, I hope that does not kill development for Main Street. Nick's had the quote that summed up the core problem with how this "plan" to hire Elkington was hatched:

"This has been put together by three or four guys who came up with this in a room somewhere and they don't want to be pressed on details," he said.

After 38 years it is finally finished? Why now are we talking about widening those same roads? Why are we not thinking 30 years ahead instead of 5? In 30 years will need a rail system to parallel the highway system? Will we need air corridors to handle the low-level plane traffic? Do we need to be investing in Mass Transit now? YES!

The remotely located news broadcast from WB-64 had been delayed, but they have picked the local "host," Former WXIX reporter Kimberly Moening. This will be a general waste, but it might put a little fire under FOX-19's belly and push them to be the real "local" 10 o'clock news by actually covering nothing but local news for the full hour. Ok, I am dreaming, but a man has to dream sometimes.

Wednesday, September 17, 2003

Peter Bronson needs to revisit the story of Mutiny on Bounty in his column called: "Mutiny on the Butler County Republican Bounty." Pete illustrated his column by telling a tale of Capt. Horatio Hornblower. The problem is that Hornblower was not on the Bounty. He was not even a real person. Captain Bligh and Fletcher Christian were the duo that made the story's antagonist and protagonist. I would surmise that Pete knows this, but chose to mix up his analogies simply because of the alliteration of Horatio Hornblower. He is taking license with literature, but I don't think that is what people expect in a column. It was nice to see Pete expose the conflict in Bulter County Republican Party and in the entire column he did not blame Bill Clinton or a liberal. He did correctly refer to Democrats as a Moby Dick type creature. This characterization is valid because Bronson and most hard-core Republican pundits do come across as Captain Ahab most of the time.

An annual event gets a midday update? Why is this story being pumped up? Who is the Enquirer trying to impress (or piss off)? This story is a puff piece that is fit for inside the paper, it is not breaking news worth knowing about before tomorrow, if then at all.

Beyond its inclusion as part of the updated paper, usually reserved for "breaking" type news, there is the balance problem. This is written as a human-interest story, where it gives no alternate views. It is reasonable to write such story if it is meant for the Temp section. If this ends up in the Metro section, then it should at least included some counter viewpoint. Now what are those viewpoints? Well there are responses to comments like this one from the article

"I think it is just wonderful we have a society today that accepts this,'' said Herring of Colerain Township. "So many are against allowing God and prayer anywhere.''

This statement is false. There are not "many" against allowing prayer or "God" "anywhere." There are people who wish to maintain the separation of Church and State. It is legal for kids to pray in school, as long as they do so on their own time, or silently without causing any disruption. Why was there no counter argument to this viewpoint? If this is a puff piece, then why include such a harsh and false statement (albeit debatable by some fundamentalists)?

Now this statement is not legally an issue:

"I'm not ashamed,'' Johnson said after the 25-minute program of song and prayer. "Let our community know we have Christ in our school.''

It is a concern of the attitudes of those who seek to indoctrinate children with religion at schools. Most of those who want to put religion back in schools, want to put Christianity back into schools. This is fact. The savvy politicos will try and make it monotheistic, but that still fails the legality test. I wonder if Peter Bronson will question the lack of balance is this story and at that school, as much as he did Miami University's choice of Convocation speaker. I kind of think he will be giddy as a boy burning ants with a magnifying glass over this article.

Vigilancia Politica 20030917Another shorter one. We are in the doldrums of the campaign. Things have not quite gotten into full schmooze mode yet. Next month will be when things start getting nutty. This week the highlight, or lowlight, is my spiffy picture. I need a new camera, mostly because I want a better quality digital, but this one will have to do for now.

Tuesday, September 16, 2003

Steve Novotni, XRay Magazine Editor, has the lastest scoop on the Enquirer's up and coming weekly newspaper. By the sound of things this is going to be a waste of space. It sounds like überffluff. If there is any original news, and I mean hard news, I will be shocked. If you find “Betty Crocker” receipes in “Cin” (or Barge), I would not be surprised. They might be trendy recipies for Jello-shots circa 1993, but hey, we are in Cincinnati after all.

No word yet if “Cin” will have any kind of website. I doubt my idea will be used. I wonder if CityBeat will take up the group blog idea? I doubt it. I don’t think either CityBeat or the Enquirer could stand for “unedited” content and for people linking to other publications.

Monday, September 15, 2003

"We can't be prepared for terrorists if we don't have simple security measures in place right here at our own City Hall," Reece said. "We're trying to send a message to people when they come to City Hall that we're trying to make it safe for you."

Yes, Alicia, the terrorists are surely targeting Cincinnati. Maybe we will get attacked in 10 years. 2013 should be about when the terrorists find Cincinnati on a map.

The Enquirer has belatedly gotten a story online. The Business Courier had the scoop and since this hit on the weekend, no one was available for comment. This article included comments from Mike Kenney, regional vice president for Clear Channel, that seem much more disingenuous than Saturday's article.

"We looked at McFarland and Third streets. We looked out on West Third Street. We looked at other buildings downtown. In fact, I spent almost all my time looking at buildings downtown," Kenney said. "It just didn't work out."

Riiiiiight. Almost all of your time. The issue is money. They got it cheap. It is simple as that. Cheap and they have no need for to be downtown when they do nothing downtown (oh except the reds and bengals which is a big nothing for the rest of the city). It would be nice if the WDBZ picked up the slack by starting a real newsroom. I will not be holding my breath for that, but someone has to cover city hall, and they will be right across the street after all.

1230thebuzz.com has moved into the internet interactive mode with the addition of a message board. I applaud the move. There are currently no other major media outlets with a well structured forum. I encourage everyone to register and post away. I most also inform Nate: I have all ready registered cincyblog as my ID, so he can't pretend he is me on the Buzz's boards.

Sunday, September 14, 2003

This article in the Enquirer is a hose job. No one with an opposing view was quoted; no critical points were even sited. Where is Nick Spencer's quote? Did McCauley even call him? This is a PR job for Cranley and Luken. Sources indicated that the ordinance hiring John Elkington for $100,000 is looking like it will fail. Cranely's plan may not even get 4 votes. I wonder if Elkington is positioning his firm to collect far more money from the develpment deals, not from this useless study. Why doesn't he just develop locations on his own? If he can make money on it, then the building permits should not be a bid deal to pencil whip through council.

This article just pushing the same talking points as before. We don't need recycled ideas from other cities. How many Planet Hollywoods are now dust? Lets also look at who goes to Main Street? Young professionals go to Main Street. Where do older folks go? They go to bed at 11:00 PM. Why are you looking at a King Records theme Hard Rock Cafe for Main Street? James Brown's music is great, but it will not serve the population that goes to Main Street. A Peter Frampton bar might get national backpage coverage (for all of 2 minutes), but 21-35 year olds are not going to want to kick it on the dance floor to "Do you feel like I do?"

Earth to John Cranley! THINK LOCAL! Put the stale entertainment on the Riverfront or around Fountain Square. That way the tourists (suburbanites) can find it without having to ask a city dweller for directions. They hate talking to someone not protected by a lead lined SUV, those people(me) are freaky. After all, if you don't want to live in the suburbs, there must be something wrong with you. (Cough, Cough)

Patrick Crowley is reporting that Nicholas Mirisis, congressional press secretary for GOP Kentucky governor candidate Ernie Fletcher, resigned after he allegedly sent a letter to a former girlfriend where he threatened "sexual torture" because she revealed that he once had plagiarized a paper while president of the UNC Student body.

Now, VP Dick Cheney was in town last Monday shilling for Ernie Fletcher. If we apply the same logic as was applied to Cruz Bustamante, Lt. Gov of California, that means that since VP Dick Cheney has not publicly denounced Nicholas Mirisis, doesn't that means he supports him and his actions/positions?

I should be saying something now about the shoe on the other foot maybe? Hey, it is not my logic, I did not start this? I wonder where the 800-pound gorilla stands on this one?

Well, Pete is again reading his email from the Miami College Republicans. Did Peter either attend the lecture or read the book mentioned in his column? I would guess no. I would guess Peter contacted the newest head of the Miami College Republicans to get their detailed take (spin) on the issue and maybe called the University's PR person for comment. Peter is doing what most journalists do; they interview the usual cast of characters. Why not talk to a slew of other kids at Miami? Well, Peter only cares about getting what he calls "conservative" viewpoints into Miami. I again have to ask him if he has ever read the business school's class schedule? If Peter is equating capitalism with conservatism (which is not a valid link, but I will humor him), then I ask him to find the socialism or communism studies class in the Business School. Peter, speaking as a graduate of the Richard T. Farmer School of Business, I can attest that neither socialist nor communist ideas are taught in that school. When are you going to call for a balance of viewpoints there Peter? Huh? Hmm? Well, if the 1/3 of freshman class who are Business majors has to be subjected to a liberal whom you claim is a socialist, then good. They maybe will become liberal capitalist like I am. You know, the ones who believe government must keep business in check, but guess what, we believe in private property, so we are not communists!!! How's that for an opinion that is not represented in Business schools? Where's the balance Peter?

Peter references protestors. How many were there? I bet there were no more than 6-12. This puts the protest in the range of a Nate Livingston "event." Does this make Peter the conservative counter part to the reporters who for some unknown reason actually ask Nate for quotes on stories? A bizarre ying-yang thing going on there, eh?

I also must remind everyone of Bronson's hypocrisy. Peter loves the police union. They are his buddies. They collectively bargain. They hold their employer of a barrel. Peter says nothing when they do that. The Police create an organized slowdown and allow crime rates to raise, and Peter says they are "handcuffed." Miami's workers have a speaker who supports them, and Peter complains about it.

Finally Peter, when you say "conservative viewpoint" please be more specific. You want college students to be indoctrinated in some form of Reagan worship or Fundamentalist cut-throat capitalism. That is just as extreme as Barbara Ehrenreich, just your perception is off. Things in the mirror are not as big as they appear after all.

Saturday, September 13, 2003

Well, if you listen to their radio stations it is clear they do not give a damn about the actual City of Cincinnati, so it comes as no surprise that they are running scared to Kenwood. I guess Bill Cunningham wants to ride his tricycle to work.

I think this is a move for Clear Channel to start reducing local programming and even local staff. What better way than cutting jobs during a move, people will not notice quite so much.

Why didn't the city do anything to try and keep them downtown? Well, that is a leading question. I wonder what they offered or if Clear Channel even told anyone they were leaving before their deal was signed? I wonder if this at all factual:

Kinney said Clear Channel's Austin, Texas-based real estate broker talked to the city of Cincinnati about incentives for keeping Clear Channel inside city limits.

"We did talk to Cincinnati, just to see if there was anything they could do, and there wasn't really anything much to do," Kinney said. "We got a good deal and a good location (in Kenwood)."

There wasn't anything they could do? Huh? Are all of the downtown buildings full? Of course not. This is move is occurring for two reasons. They do want more space, but additionally there will be a pull back of City Coverage, and of general local coverage across the board. If there will be any local coverage, then it will be suburban and Northern Kentucky. I would in the years expect WLW to have less news, more sports, and the talk shows will only cover national or suburban topics.

Is downtown safe?
Recent statistics say violent crime is down, but the reality of reported incidents has the public seeing danger on every corner

Now the shear length of the subheadline is an obvious problem, but could the question be more leading? The only thing more leading could be the classicly poor question to pose in an interview or press conference: When did you stop beating your wife?

The article's point is that even with the reduction of crime in downtown based on statistics, the image of downtown will not change with incidents several assaults and shootings getting hyped up and sensational reporting (I added the hyped and sensational point, I don’t know if the reporter would). This is true, but this paragraph from the story sums up the duplicitous role the media plays:

As city leaders strive to polish downtown's reputation, still showing the lingering effects of the 2001 riots and other setbacks, they recognize that a single headline about a shooting can trump all the positive statistics and other upbeat developments -- among them, downtown's new stadiums, museums and growing upscale residential options -- in fixing an image of the center city.

I have to ask the reporter, Barry M. Horstman , how do you talk out both sides of your mouth? Your newspaper is part of the media that is creating the invalid perception that downtown is unsafe, and your headline (which was likely from your editor) is doing nothing but selling papers and putting fear into the minds of ignorant and easily influenced suburbanites. If newspapers/local TV news outlets want to analyze crime based on anecdotal reports instead of statistics, then they are clearly lying to the public. Now, many would say they regularly lie to the public, but I don’t really think that is true, they just tease with blood, sex, violence and fear of death to get you do watch through the next commercial. I thought newspapers still had a lower level of sales driven editing choices, but it appears that the Post wants you to fear for your life as much as the local TV news programs that will tell you if your child will die, right after this commercial break.

Friday, September 12, 2003

Is Maggie Downs being held back a little? This is a good column, but I think she could still be writing on topics with much more complexity than this. Why not tackle the Cranley vs. Spencer battle over Main Street?

I am amazed over one thing in this article though. As a blogger, which is a new form of journalist and a much more personal one, I do write about my self on occasion. In the world of columnists that has been true for a while.

I was interviewed for CityBeat earlier this year and the reporter Maria Rodgers asked me how I could be so open about myself on my blog. I am open about myself, but I do wall off some of my emotions, or at least direct reference to them. Talking about my love life is one thing I could not do, well at least not beyond talking about my lack of one. Maggie is straightforward with it. That takes guts. My blog here is only read by a small number of people, while she is read weekly in large newspaper. I could not write about this type of topic. I would like to read more of her opinions on stuff, but what she is doing is interesting, and keeps me reading.

I do have to ask one other question. What kind of boyfriend does have that can take off three months and go to Europe in the fall? I wish my employer would let me do that. I would pick England and Ireland instead of Italy though.

Darryl Parks was complaining on WLW this morning that John Ritter’s death was the headline on his station’s newscast. I have some news for Mr. Parks: YOU ARE THE BOSS OF WLW. If Darryl does not like the news broadcast, then he should get off his ass and chew out the news director for running with the human stories as the lead. Don’t just whine on the air, do your damn job.

Thursday, September 11, 2003

Nate Livingston Impersonating Me Again?Does Nate really think he is fooling anyone? I wonder if I should sue Nate for either identity theft or more likely defamation. Well if you read this message thread at Cincymusic.com, guess what, it is not me, and Nate seems to be having fun trying to discredit me. Why does Nate have time to waste on me? I am just a wanna-be newsboy after all. So a "mighty leader" like Nate has time to deal with a minor blogger/journalist like myself. If I am so insignificant, why does the gnat spend his time trying to defame me?

Kroger Gets Their GarageThis was a forgone conclusion, but the city will build Kroger a parking garage. I don't really have a major problem with building a parking garage. Parking is not easy everywhere downtown. If Central Parkway continues to develop, then more parking it will come in handy. The problem with the situation was the arrogance and vile business practices of Kroger’s. Making threats is not a good long run business practice. It might work for the short run thinkers who want to quell the tide today (wringing the stone for last ounce of blood), but for us true “conservative” business people, working honestly and fairly gets you more friends then foes. Kroger’s now has bunch of foes. If they do not help find a developer for their former College Hill store, or if they let the Vine Street store fall apart again, then they might feel the pinch instead of the warm body massage from city council.

Cole's comments from the debate are either piss poor or just not quoted in their entirety:

"This deal stinks," Cole said. "It stinks for the council. It stinks for the taxpayers. It stinks so bad that I beg the administration to get its act together and get us the information we need before we have to make any more of these decisions."

Why? Why does the plan stink? Is it just because the city has to pay for it? Well, the city has built many many parking garages around town. I do not think this will be a Kroger only garage, at least I hope not. So we all get some value out of it. It will make good parking for the Taste of Cincinnati. Cole's comments are just electioneering at their most ineloquent.

WLW's Idea of 9/11 CommemorationWLW's Mike McConnell’s guest was Richard Miniter formerly from the Wall Street Journal and he is promoting his book blaming Bill Clinton for not getting Osama Bin Laden. The Blame Clinton crowd, of which WLW and Clear Channel are charter members, has stooped to an all time low. This guy claims to have proof of connections between Iraq and Al-Qaeda. If this exists, why was it not presented at the UN as a reason for attacking Iraq? Yes, you can now surmise that his claims of proof are just bullshit.

Everyone will be able to watch next summer during the campaign as WLW airs someone who will blame not finding WMD in Iraq on Clinton, as well as every other conservative talk radio station and FOX News. That will be their "meme" of choice to deflect Bush's WMD problem. This is the new tone of politics? It sounds like the old games of Dick Nixon. "Rat fucking" has lost the illegality and just become the Wurlitzer. Lady of Spain where are you?

Spencer vs. CranleyThe Spencer and Cranley camps have been duking it out over at cincymusic.com's message boards regarding the Main Street development issue. Lots of people stirring up the pot and just messing around, but a lot of good debate. The McMain Street battle wages on!

Kathy Y. Wilson Baffles MeHer latest column is just all over the map. It is oddly as personal as any blogger could be and then some. She frets over being called "racist" by CityBeat News Editor Greg Flannery for criticizing other blacks. That is a ludicrous accusation on Greg's part. It is brought forward because of the revision of the meaning of the word "racism" by transnational progressives out there. I am not a tranzi, as some call them. I am an old school liberal. I don't change the rules when you want to make new enemies. A racist to some today is anyone they want to tar as bad, just because they oppose your policies or your opinions. Racism is like patriotism. Both terms are used as red herrings. Both terms are just the latest incarnations of demagoguery that was most famously illustrated in the communist witch-hunts of the late 1940's and 1950's.

I wish Greg had used a better term to classify Kathy. He could have used classist or elitist or just accused her of being prejudice. Using the "R" word is just the 50-foot pickle people like to use to beat others over the head. I just wished these comments from Kathy’s column were not really what many people believe:

"Racism is based on economics," I said. "They make more money than I do, and there's no way I can oppress them."

Racism for the record is generally the belief that a particular race of people or all other race outside of one own is inherently inferior. A race is "a group of people of common ancestry, distinguished from others by physical characteristics, such as hair type, color of eyes and skin, stature, etc. Principal races are Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid." Economics is not part of racism. Economics might play a factor in discrimination, but discrimination is not solely the result of one’s race. If a black person is poor it is not because they are black. If a white person is rich it is not because they are white. Capitalist societies have poor people. If you want to be a communist, fine, don't use race as the means to draw people into the revolution by creating a feeling of victim hood that can be blamed on your mark.

UPDATE: Greg Flannery emailed to correct me on a big point from Kathy's column. He did not call her a "racist". Instead, read Kathy's words:

He accused me of lumping all white T-shirt wearers together as dealers, of calling for their "extinction." He called my conclusions racist.

Greg's point is valid, and I apologize for the mistake. I would argue however that if a person draws racist conclusions, they would almost certainly be considered a de facto racist, so the distinction on paper is clear, in reality it is not. I still would contend my point was correct. Kathy's conclusions were not racist. She was either generalizing being prejudice, or just absolutely correct. The whole issue she talked about was about culture, not about race. That is another confusion people seem to make on purpose all to often.

So is this a real separation or a fake one? A minister's marriage is really in trouble, if we assume they did not lie in their affidavits, something I hope they are not willing to do. How is this not news? How come CityBeat reported this and not the Enquirer or the Post or any of the TV stations? Does CityBeat have either the inside scoop on the issue? Since this is all public record, I doubt that. Does CityBeat not fear being attacked by the CBUF, while the rest of the media does fear that?

All of my questions are interesting, but that still leaves one concern out there. Should this be an issue? I would say, in this case, it is fair game. Part of my position is clouded by the hypocrisy of any clergyman who can't keep his marriage in working order, but I think it still fair game because of the residency issue. Lynch's credibility is low, at least with those paying attention. The status of his marriage directly impacts that issue. The gory detail are not an issue, but the general status was and is. Now, does it matter if he or his wife is shacking up with anyone right now? Not at all. It makes for good blog fodder, but that is about it.

Overall the CityBeat article was a very straight forward article. It was as balanced as I have seen from one of their news stories. I hope they keep this kind of reporting up.

For Lynch, the challenge triggered an embarrassing look into his personal life that forced the Over-the-Rhine pastor to disclose publicly that he and his wife have separated. In an affidavit filed with the elections board Friday, Lynch stated that he has lived at the condo since at least mid-July.

That was very obvious, but I still missed it. Thanks to "Dolla" in the comments for correcting me.

UC "Child" Porn ProfessorOk, this guy sounds sick, but I have a question. How did people know what files he had on his computer?

Sharonville Police started investigating Luebbe two months ago after they were contacted by a computer technician at Micro Center in Sharonville, where Luebbe had taken his computer for repairs. The technician found several images of minors having sex, according to a police report. A police search of the computer turned up several hundred images of child pornography, according to police and prosecutors.

How did the computer technician find these pictures? Were the files called "child porn.jpg" or something similar? Why was this guy checking out these files? Are their known files out there that are "marked" child porn files that computer tech's can scan for? The only other way was that this technician was looking this guys files. Why would the technician look at his files? I also would like to know if these minors were teenagers or under 13 or 14. This makes a difference. If these are pictures of a 17 year old, then that is not the same thing as a 7 year old. Police don't seem to care to indicate a difference, but there is one. My grandmother was married at age 16 to my then 26-year-old grandfather, back in 1936. If they wanted to marry today instead of then, I would never have existed. My grandfather would have been labeled a sex offender and put in jail.

Now, I don't advise dating teenagers, unless you are a teenager, but this man will likely be mistreated in prison, even before he is convicted because we have a vengeful police force and a media that will exploit a sex crime faster than any other crime.

Vigilancia Politica 20030910Well, another one. It was a slow week for stuff, but I made a little change. I included links to all of the stories I referenced for the candidates. They are organized by topic, as opposed to candidate. I am limited by some issues in the goxray.com site code. Let me know how bad this one is. I am not jumping for joy at it. I guess the stories are not as juicy as the last couple weeks have been, so I am going through a slight news withdrawal. I guess I have to go read up another fix.

Monday, September 08, 2003

Dick's in TownDick was in town shilling for the Kentucky GOP. I watch his motorcade roll down Sixth Street while I ate lunch. I was surprised to see an ambulance in the caravan. That might be standard issue for the VP and President, but with Chaney's health problems, it just looks like he could pop and artery over a big pothole.

I am more interested where Simon Leis's bill for extra police protection is? I saw at least one sheriff’s vehicle out securing the area. Dick was only in town to raise money for the GOP, or at least that was that was announced. When Bill Clinton did that Simon Leis sent a bill to the White House for providing security. Leis was sure to make it a big media event too. When he was not paid, he even went to court to try and recover the $8,490.34 from the Democratic Party. He wasn't playing politics with his office now was he? Is that an abuse of power? Ah, yeah, it is. Leis is getting more and more like J. Edgar Hoover everyday. If you ever see him in drag, you better leave town.

A big insult to the state of Kentucky: the VP is in town to raise money for a gubernatorial candidate and they hold the event in Ohio.

Sunday, September 07, 2003

Spenser Hits Cranley PlanCharter Committee Candidate Nick Spenser speaks out with a bite on Councilman John Cranley's plan to hire a consultant to study the Main Street entertainment district. The new little man has hit the original little man on council with a reasoned challenge to the hurry up and study an issue, instead of acting on it, plan. Nick is right on target with his criticism. Spending $100,000 bucks on a guy to state the obvious is pointless. If they guy has "contacts" then just admit what you are doing, paying a fee to try and lobby corporations to invest in new entertainment outlets in the Main Street. The better option is the fund local entrepreneurs or local corporations to invest in the city. Keep the money local, keep the control local, and you will make an authentic Cincinnati destination, not a carbon copy of someplace else.

Saturday, September 06, 2003

Nearly seven in 10 Americans believe it is likely that ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the Sept. 11 attacks, says a poll out almost two years after the terrorists' strike against this country.

People do not pay attention and they generally want to believe stuff, no matter how invalid to settle their fears. This just makes me sick that these same morons are charged with picking our leaders. Well, a large number of people, not this high, do not believe in evolution, so it makes sense where the numbers come from.

UPDATE: It appears that K-Lo at the Corner is either delusional or a big fan of Machiavelli, she says in a short post "AMERICANS GET THE WAR ON TERROR." No K-Lo they don't. All of the Muslim terrorist groups are not part of some vast Islamist-wing conspiracy. Bin Laden and company don't give a rat's ass about Israel, and I know you and the rest of the Neo-Con army knows this, but why do they continue the lie? The only other possible thing is that they actually think Saddam was behind 9/11. This is the OJ-fication of the right. They have managed to convince themselves something is true, even though all known evidence says otherwise. I guess George is looking for the WMD as intensely as OJ is looking for the real killers. If it is Iraq, we can justify an attack.

Details on the Lynch Residency HearingKorte has the details. The vote was unanimous. The GOP seems not to want to make this a real issue. Pete Witte instead indicated that he will not let the issue die. He will let the legal challenge drop, but he will go after Lynch as an outsider, using the "carpetbagging" charge leveled on Hillary Clinton in her run for Senate in NY. It did not work against Hillary, but Cincinnati is not New York, in about a million different ways.

The barbs quoted in Korte's article are harsh and bodes well for those expecting a nasty campaign. Witte's comments included

But he said he would "go on the campaign trail and show that I'm the complete opposite of Damon Lynch."

"I don't consider our police to be rapists, racists and murderers, and I don't think that kind of rhetoric is going to make sure our neighborhoods are safer places for our families to live," he said.

Lynch did not back down and surprisingly did not try and retract his letter maligning the police:

"I stand by those words. Police officers in this city have done those things," he said.

I could be haste here and throw out a Betty Davis quote, but alas I would rather just genuflect on the moment. We have a real live campaign folks. We might actually have dueling press releases, and real live arguments at a debate. With an action filled debate, might a local TV or radio station actually consider broadcasting live such debate? Could we really experience politics here in stuffy Cincinnati?
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Nah! I expect to get the same tired old blah blah blah from the broadcast outlets. The papers will be sleeping through this, except for Korte. We might have 1230thebuzz do something, but they would likely only stick to Lynch's team, leaving the rest to beg WLW to care about a city that does not contain most of their listeners. Same old, same old.

Anti-Miami Bias?A Miami football player does something really stupid, gets busted by the cops, will be punished by the courts and by the school. This news draws a prominent Metro section article in the Enquirer? I must once again make my own personal bias known. I am a Miami graduate and I have been suffering from a Don Quixote syndrome for years in regards to the anti-Miami coverage in the Cincinnati Press. I have looked towards both a UC and Ohio U alumni as the culprits. Both schools have no love towards Miami. Now, my charge at windmills is partially tongue in cheek and partially real. I do see an overall negative spin against Miami sports and the school in general. There is no vast anti-Miami conspiracy, but when UC quarterback Gino Guidugli was arrested for assault I don't think it got this level of coverage.

The other contributing element of this is the player's name, Parseghian, which is big in college football history. This story was given far to much coverage for what the underlying crime involved. Well, Miami will, as usual, survive. I think we need a full-blown journalism school.

Simon Leis at the Harvest Home ParadeA friend pointed me to this article:

Hamilton County Sheriff Simon Leis Jr. (and the 12-foot-tall inflatable doll of him) brings out his entire arsenal, including helicopters, mounted patrols, paddy wagons and a K-9 unit with a barking German shepherd in back.

Little did we know that the mighty Simon Leis doll is something of a tradition as this articles from CityBeat can attest: 03/19/2003 and 03/22/2001. This reminds me of "Otto" the autopilot from the movie Airplane. I think I need to conjure up the "Stay Puff Marshmallow Man" to battle the Simon Leis blow-up doll. Why doesn't the Hustler store sell these? Leis has been screw the Flynts for 30 years, why can't someone else return the favor?

Friday, September 05, 2003

Lynch Officially on BallotWith no explanation reported the Board of Elections has certified Damon Lynch III to appear on the ballot for Cincinnati City Council. This was not a major surprise. I am sure the GOP is both happy and sad. They would like nothing better than damaging the reputation of Damon Lynch, but they are equally happy to have someone that they hope will bring out the conservative vote.

My wonder know, will the gloves stay off or will Pete Witte try to bloody up his knuckles a little more? Pete can still push the issue of the alleged lack of payment of non-city resident tuition for Walnut Hills School that Lynch's should have paid for his kid(s) that attended that school. Will this issue die? Now that they ballot issue is decided will the Enquirer unless Greg Korte on Lynch, or would they prefer to keep in the race to make it fun? I would find it much more fun if they went after this issue. Where any laws broken? What political reporter can resist a case of possible law breaking by a candidate for public office? If this issue goes unsettled, I hope I never hear Damon Lynch ever utter the words "white privilege." I don't really want to be physically sick, but that level of hypocrisy would make me bring up lunch and breakfast.

Denise Smith-Amos's column was a bit wishy washy. If you want to remedy the issue, you have to dig into his personal life. If the allegation is that he is lying about where he is living, then you have to find out where he is living, thus the personal questions. I guess the Board of Elections chose to follow Denise’s formula. The details don’t matter, the overall appearance of democracy is better than the rule of law, kind of like how the Florida election was decided. Bush after all “appeared to have won,” so that was good enough for the SCOTUS.

McMain Street?After reading this article I have the feeling that Main Street may not be a vibrant strip of cutting edge bars and restaurants and instead become a tourist trap. A Hard Rock Cafe? Are they serious? Why not just open a fast food joint? Don't make your marquee establishments outside corporate businesses. We need local business to thrive, not remote corporate cookie cutter franchises.

Again, if you want a feel for the nightlife here in Cincinnati, Cincinnati Tomorrow has a great weekly event where they take you to vibrant and "happening" places around town, with a heavy focus on the Main Street area. I have to apologize to those folks for missing last night’s event. My mind was up for it, but my body was not. I will though be joining them in the coming weeks.

My advice to the City, keep the crap the wimpish suburbanites want on the riverfront, let the urbanists have Main Street. Give Main Street the same attention you are giving it, just keep out the national chains.

Thursday, September 04, 2003

The Kroger GarageThis is clearly the next issue that each council candidate has to answer. I will try and get them all to answer for my VigPol column next week, but I would guess the tap dancing on it will rival that of the Late Gregory Hines. Alicia seems like she is gunning for a grandstanding record. Here is a media round up of articles:
Enquirer: Greg Korte, Greg again.
Post: Kevin OsborneWCPO: Here

Wednesday, September 03, 2003

CityBeat ErrorI think Stephanie Dunlap needs to review the facts about Cynthia McKinney. She wrote

Speakers also included the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, former U.S. Rep. Walter Fauntroy (D-Wash., D.C.) and former U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.), widely considered to have lost reelection because of her vocal opposition to invading Iraq.

Cynthia McKinney lost in the Democratic primary because she opposed the resolution authorizing use of force against Afghanistan, not Iraq. The primary was held in August of last year before the vote to authorize the use of force in Iraq. She did not support the Iraq War, but no, she lost because of Afganistan and her desire to investigate the possibility that Bush knew about 9/11 before it happened. Tin foil hats might be standard issue for some at CityBeat, but the rest of us liberals would rather keep the nut cases out of the spot light.

Sponsored by Brian Garry for CouncilGreg Flannery's column this week writes this about council candidate Brian Garry:

The Rev. Damon Lynch III wasn't the only city council candidate who joined the 40th Anniversary March on Washington last week. Brian Garry, another independent candidate, also went. That's not the only activity the two candidates share. Lynch, like Garry, is reaching out to young African Americans in inner city neighborhoods. Garry has been going to "Short Vine" Street in Corryville on Sunday nights for several weeks, saying he wants to represent urban youth. Lynch also is campaigning there.

When Harry Belafonte visited last week, Lynch took him to Ollie's, a restaurant in Over-the-Rhine. If Garry and Lynch can mobilize thousands of young black voters, they might be able to channel a political force that's never really been felt in Cincinnati.

Shill is just too week a word for this. Ok, Greg and City Beat like Brian Garry. Fine, but honest questions are being raised about a council candidate's credibility and what does CityBeat report? They instead heap praise on him, (the him being Damon Lynch of course). Why not just roll over and endorse Damon Lynch now, save us from the suspense.

I see Greg mentioned Harry Belafonte’s visit. No mention of Cynthia McKinney, I wonder why?

Lynch-GateOkay folks, I think I am willing to come out and state the obvious here: this is now officially a scandal. Today's articles have the goods, just don't connect the dots: Greg Korte, Roy Wood, and Kevin Osborne. Now, all of the dots are not clear, but I think enough is there to point to the truth. The two bottom line issue are that Damon Lynch lied to Greg Korte when he said he has been living in Price Hill for 2 years, and his son's enrollment at a Cincinnati Public school without being a city resident raises the issue of out of city tuition. Now the facts.

Lynch himself seems nonplussed by the issue. "I've lived there for two years," he said of his Price Hill pad. "It's public record. It's easy to prove - just ask my neighbors. It's a real non-issue, and anyone who raises it is ignoring other issues that need to be discussed."

But Lynch has claimed a 2.5 percent property tax credit on his Woodlawn residence, most recently in June. The state credit, which saves Lynch $77.06 yearly in taxes, may only be claimed on property that is owner-occupied.

So what does this say? To me it says that last week Lynch claimed he had lived in Price Hill for two years, but this week his lawyer says he lived there only a matter of "months. " As of June this year Lynch "declared" to the State of Ohio that he was a resident of Ohio by his act of accepting the special state tax credit. In my opinion that is clearly a lie. In an effort to get on the ballot at the last minute, Damon Lynch was not honest to the public. Is this a crime? I don't think so. Should this be reported in the big press? Well, the pieces are there, but why is no one connecting the dots?

Walnut Hills TuitionThis is a thorny issue for the Lynch family. The Post reported today:

One of Lynch's sons, Eric, attends Walnut Hills High School within the city and doesn't pay non-city resident tuition, which would be about $6,200 annually.

This is where questions need to be asked. How long as Eric Lynch attended Walnut Hills High School? Did he attend last year when his family was claiming residency in Woodlawn? If so, then did the Lynch family pay tution for last year or prior years? Will he now pay tuition for the current year? Does this rise to the level of fraud? Is anyone in a place of power asking these questions? Is the School Board asking these questions? Is Mike Allen asking?

What is keeping Greg Korte from exploring these two issues? The Post's Kevin Osborne has taken on this issue, why not Korte? Larry Frazier was torn apart in a Korte column, but not Lynch. Is he holding back or being held back? Maggie Downs had a column on Convergys held back during the debate on that issue, is Korte being held back in a similar manner until Lynch's ballot status is resolved? It would be odd since these issues directly relate to his residency status and his motives for owning two residences. This makes me wonder. If I can see these facts, I would think others would.

"Politically, this is the cheapest of political shots and, sadly, it has racial overtones," said Jene Galvin, an adviser to Lynch.

Come on Jene, don't play the race card. Make Lynch do it himself. If a man is going to cry racism, one would hope he is going to make the claim himself, instead of using his white surrogate to shield him from hypocrisy. I wonder if Nate Livingston's challenge to Pat DeWine's residency has "racial overtones?" Hmm, I wonder what Gene would say about that?

UPDATE: Chris Anderson adds some comments. His opinion of Jene Galvin's tactics are akin to mine, but he brings up the hypocricy with a much more vivid view.

Vigilancia Politica 20030903I don't know if this one is as good as the last column, but at least it is done. I have some more fun at the expense of a few candidates and other political cast members. If anyone see any areas need address please let me know. I am considering having a theme week next week, maybe a profile of the criminal records for all candidates. I don't know, but that might be worth checking.